October 19, 1893] 



NATURE 



587 



We read that " rivet holes may be drilled, but in 

 general practice with locomotive boilers they are punched 

 when the plates are cold.'' Has the author ever seen 

 rivet holes punched in a hot plate ? It certainly is the 

 practice to punch the rivet holes at Crewe, but no large 

 contractor dreams of punching at all, nor would most 

 engineers allow it to be done ; and as regards cost, it is 

 certainly no more expensive to drill. 



F'&- 55 represents the arrangement for staying the 

 crown of the fire-box by direct stays to the casing plate. 

 This is said to be " a good arrangement." There are, 

 however, several objections to it, the more important 

 being that no provision is made for the expansion of 

 copper tube plate on raising steam, the first two rows of 

 stays being usually carried by a sling attached to the 

 boiler shell. The old-fashioned roof-bar is again coming 

 into vogue, owing probably to the fact that the fire-box 

 is not held so rigidly, and therefore the plates are not 

 so liable to crack with the constant expansion and 

 contraction. 



The chapter on boiler fittings is good, but the asbestos 

 packed fittings made by Messrs. Dewrance and Co. might 

 have been included with advantage. On the subject of 

 cylinders we find much useful information, the latest 

 types being clearly illustrated. Under the heading of 

 general details, the radial axle-box, Adams' bogie and 

 blast-pipe are described, but the bissel truck is not in- 

 cluded.- This is to be regretted, because it is very com- 

 monly in use abroad, and is more efficient than the 

 radial axle-box. The all-important question of brakes is 

 discussed in Chapter xiii. Everybody will agree with 

 the author that it is a pity there should be two brakes in 

 the field, because where vehicles have to run over lines 

 using different brakes, both systems of brake gear are 

 usually fitted : and so thoroughly has this to be done, that 

 in the case of fish trucks used with passenger trains the 

 cost of the brake gear comes to more than half the total 

 cost of the vehicle. 



The many improvements recently made in the design 

 of the fittings and gear of the automatic vacuum brake 

 have rendered it most efficient and easily maintained; a 

 sectional drawing of the combination ejector, as made 

 by Messrs. Gresham and Craven, would have been wel- 

 come in this chapter. The Westinghouse brake is well 

 described, and is illustrated with the familiar sectional 

 drawings of that company. 



Chapter xiv. is on modern locomotives, and is 

 capitally illustrated. The locomotive types on the 

 L. and N.W.R. are described, and a table is given, being 

 a complete list of the dilTerent standard classes with the 

 number of engines of each class. Another table gives 

 the numbers and names of all the passenger engines ; 

 following this chapter we find the standard types of other 

 companies' locomotives treated in much the same manner. 

 On p. 252 there is evidently an error. The author men- 

 tions " Mr. Stirling's 4 ft. coupled inside cylinder engines 

 with 5 ft. 6 in. driving wheels.'' What does this mean? 

 Page 266 gives the information that the Chatham and 

 Dover Railway has the automatic vacuum as their 

 standard brake. Surely this line is claimed by the 

 Westinghouse Company. Scotch locomotive practice is 

 well represented by Messrs. Holmes and Drumniond's 

 NO. 125 r, VOL. 48] 



fine engines running on the North British and Caledonian 

 railways respectively. Page 286 contains an error in the 

 statement that Mr. Drummond's engines of a particular 

 type are fitted with the Bryce Douglas valve gear. One 

 engine certainly was so fitted, but after a series of break- 

 downs the gear was done away with, and the ordinary 

 link motion was adopted. 



The compound locomotive is treated in Chapter xvi. 

 Both the Webb and Worsdell types are copiously illus- 

 trated and described, but there is nothing absolutely new 

 to be learned from a careful perusal of this chapter. No 

 drawing is given of the Worsdell intercepting valve ; but 

 this is a mistake which can be rectified in a future 

 edition. 



The volume concludes with chapters on lubrication and 

 packing, combustion and consumption of fuel, engine- 

 drivers and their duties, &c. The question of metallic 

 gland packing is just mentioned, and that is all. There 

 are hundreds of engines now running fitted with the 

 Jerome metallic packing, or that of the United States 

 Company, and descriptions of these would not be out of 

 place in this work. 



Taken as a whole, this volume contains much readable 

 and useful matter. The author has certainly succeeded 

 in writing a most interesting book, which is sure to leave 

 many clear notions, on the minds of its readers, con- 

 cerning the practical side of a subject of vast importance. 

 Most of the illustrations are very clear. The printing is 

 good, and the volume is strongly bound. 



N. J. LOCKYER. 



I VEA THER PROPHES YING. 

 St'cheressc \Zg2,> ses Causes. Par I'Abbd A. Fortin, Curd 

 de Chalette. (Paris : Vic et Amat, 1893.) 



WHATEVER effect such a period of drought as that 

 through which some parts of England and the 

 Continent have recently past may have had on the harvest, 

 it is pretty certain to be followed with a heavy crop of 

 literature. Some writers content themselves with a simple 

 record of facts, and a comparison with similar experiences 

 in the past ; some try to explain the causes, and others 

 have remedies to suggest which may diminish the ill 

 effects of similar periods in the future. 



The work quoted above belongs rather to the two last 

 categories, but unfortunately we cannot congratulate the 

 author on his contribution to either the scientific or the 

 economical side of the question. His explanation of the 

 cause of the drought is easily expressed, though we can- 

 not hope that the suggestions put forward will carry con- 

 viction to the readers of this journal. In the opinion of 

 the author, the drought is due to three contributory 

 causes, (i) To the sun-spots, which for the three months 

 in question exhibited themselves, it is stated, on the 

 southern side of the sun. (2) To the fact that during the 

 three months, March, April, and May, " Vc'nus s'est 

 trouvee en opposition constante et prolongee." (3) The 

 third cause is due to the fact that from the beginning of 

 the year the lunar apogee has coincided with the new 

 moon, and the perigee with the full moon. 



M. I'Abbe Fortin has apparently many readers and 

 admirers. If we have understood the text correctly, he 



